Apparatus for discharging coal and other materials



March 20, 1934. A. M. MORISON ET AL APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING COAL AND OTHER MATERIALS Filed Nov. 22, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ALAN MUSHET Namsorv A WILFREn JOIN LEONARD.

HTTORNE March 20, 1934. A. M. MORISON ET AL ,7

APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING COAL AND OTHER MATERIALS Filed Nov. 22, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WILF'RED Jmm Laoumzo. BY

March 20, 1934. A M MQR|$QN ET AL APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING COAL AND OTHER MATERIALS Filed Nov. 22. 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 5" m H WM m mm wmm p D NLV MW Patented Mar. 20, 1934 APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING COAL AND OTHER MATERIALS Alan Mushet Morison and Wilfred John Leonard,

Morpeth, England Application November 22, 1933, Serial No. 699,274 In Great Britain November 26, 1932 7 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for discharging coal and other materials, of the kind comprising an open ended funnel, either telescopic or rigid, which for-ms a column of the material being discharged.

Hitherto with such apparatus it has been impracticable to keep the column of material, hereinafter, referred to for convenience as coal, intact owing to lack of control of the coal in the funnel which from time to time emptied itself and consequently broke the continuity of the column, such emptying being due to various causes, for example a collapse of the heap of coal already discharged from the funnel, or in the case of loading a ship in a tidal berth, the up and down or lateral motion of the ship causing the heap of coal to recede from the mouth of the funnel. Such collapse of the heap or motion of the ship, gives a vent to the coal in the funnel,

.20 with the result that there is a rapid discharge therefrom and the funnel is emptied. Hence the object of the invention is to provide means for quickly altering the distance between the cone of coal and the end of the funnel, the rate of flow tance, whereby the end of the funnel is kept continuously sealed so as to ive support to the column, without the weight of the column having to be supported by mechanical means such as a trap door or platform at the bottom of the funnel, by the heap or cone of coal which forms below it as a result of the discharge; whereby the flow of material from the end of the funnel may be regulated and the tendency of the funnel to empty itself neutralized.

In this connection it has been proposed to pro vide a telescopic funnel having its lowermost section closed by a conicalplatform but having formed in the wall of the section side openings .40 which were adapted to be opened and closed by a vertical movable mantle fitted around the said segment and controlled independently of the means forlowering the telescopic funnel. How ever, such apparatus comes within the class of apparatus objected to above-in that the weight of the column of. material has to be supported and the material is made to take a lateral direction only instead of both vertical and lateral, and the desired control of the column is not obtained.

Hence the apparatus according to the invention'comprises the combination of an open ended funnel and a skirt, which may be relatively light, mounted on the lower end of the funnel to slide up and down so as to project at varying distances from the funnel being dependent upon such disbeyond the lower edge of the funnel as desired,

and means for effecting such up and down movement of the skirt.

The upper edge of the said skirt preferably moves along the outside of the funnel by means of rollers or other guiding means, while means such as ropes, cables, or a system of levers, secured to the skirt are provided for raising and lowering the skirt, such means being conveniently situated so that an operator can raise or lower .thesk-irt as he sees necessary from any convenient position. The skirt may be of cylindrical, conical or bell form.

The skirt may be made solid or in segments, or in the form of an open fence, conforming with the shape of the funnel. When it is made in segments or in the form of anopen fence, means may be provided whereby each segment oreach upright or prong of the fence is capable of relative vertical movement, so that theskirt adapts itself to the contour of the top of the cone of discharged material, thus further obviate lng risk of sudden rushes of material from the apparatus, due for example, when the skirt rests on a projecting lump of material, .so thatif its edge were rigid it would be spaced away from the material.

Means may be provided for giving a positive downward control of the skirt, so that when necessary it may be forced into the cone or heap of material discharged.

Where a telescopic funnel is used the lower edges of the sections are preferably arranged so that they all lie flush when the funnel is closed up.

The lower edge of the skirt is preferably arranged to be below the lower edge of the funnel when in its uppermost position, so that in longitudinal section the lines joining the two edges contain an average angle which conforms with the angle of repose of the heap.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show its application to a telescopic funnel.

In the said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a semi-diagrammatic sectional elevation showing the device in position in a ship's hold at the beginning of the loading operation.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the funnel at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1, showing the skirt controlling means.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the upper end of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation to a larger scale of the funnel telescoped.

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan taken on the line V-rV of Fig. 4. a

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the upper end of the funnel with its associated members.

Fig. '7 is a plan of Fig. 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 is a telescopic funnel suspended from a crane 2 by a rope 3 attached to a cross bar 4 at the upper end of the funnel 1, the other end of the rope being attached to a winch 5 on the crane 2.

The telescoping of the funnel 1 is effected by means of ropes 6 secured at their lower ends to an eye 7 on the lowermost section of the funnel and passing through eyes 7a on the other sections, and secured at their upper ends to a frame 8 suspended by chains 9 from the end of a crane second rope 10 attached to a second winch 11.

On the lowermost section of the funnel is slidably mounted by means-of rollers 12 (Fig. 4) a skirt 13 which is suspended from a cross bar 14 by means of two ropes 15 secured at their lower ends to an eye 71) on the lowermost section of the funnel 1, and passing under rollers 16 on the skirt 13, up through the said eye 72) through further eyes 7b to the cross bar 14 where they pass over rollers 17,18 (Fig. 2), and down again to a single rope 19 to which they are secured, and which in its turn is passed around a drum 20 of a motor 21 mounted on the cross bar 4, its end being held by an operator, so that by pulling on the said rope the motor drum will be gripped and. the skirt raised, while by slackening the rope 19 the motor drum will be disengaged and the skirt will drop. Alternatively the rope 15 may be connected direct to the skirt 13 to give a single purchase only instead of a double purchase as above described. The motor 21 is adapted to rotate in a direction such that when the rope 19 is tightened around the drum 20 the skirt will be raised.

The skirt 13 comprises a conical ring 22 rigidly secured to six pairs of oppositely disposed angle section frame members 23, 24 equally spaced apart, and between which the rollers 12 and. 16 are mounted. The upper ends of the members 23, 24 are bound together by a flared hoop 25.

Around the ring 22 are rigidly secured equallyspaced splayed prongs 26. Preferably some of the prongs 26 have slidably mounted thereon tubular prongs 27, a stop 28 on each prong limiting the downward travel as indicated in dotted lines. The said tubular prongs automatically adjust themselves to the contour of the heap. Anchor prongs 26a are rigidly secured to the lowermost segment for engagement with the heap in order to prevent the apparatus from swinging about.

One or more of the anchor prongs may be dispensed with where there are large lumps of coal in the stream, to enable such lumps to flow without the skirt having to be raised too high.

As shown in Fig. 4, the lower edges of the sections of the funnel are flush when the funnel is telescoped.

With a view to counteracting buckling of a telescopic funnel when it is to be raised with coal inside, the ends of the sections of the funnel are provided with means whereby a substantial couple is imparted to them on any side movement occurring. For example, channel rings 29 as shown may be provided at the end of each section, the outer diameter of the said rings being an easy fit inside an adjacent section.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 7 the eyes 7a extend inwards to overlap the segment to which it is secured so that when the funnel is extended the se ments are supported from each other by the eyes 7a abutting against the channel rings 29.

At the upper end of the innermost section of the funnel 1 is rigidly secured a hopper 30 which is suspended from the cross bar 1. One end of the hopper 3G is open to receive the lower end of a telescopic chute 31 or endless belt or other discharging means leading from a discharge point (Fig. 1) Hooks 32 or other quick fastening means on the hopper 30 engage with corresponding eyes 33 on the end of the chute 31 to ensure against the funnel swinging away from the chute through any cause.

In use, the funnel 1 is raised in its telescoped condition, by turning the winch 5, and then swung over the ships hold with the chute 31 attached to the hopper 30. The winch 11 is then turned to allow the funnel to extend until the skirt 13 just clear the bottom of the hold when in its lowermost position. Discharge of the coal then begins, the first effect of which is to fill up the funnel 1. The flow of the coal is then started and subsequently regulated by raising the lowermost section of the funnel by turning the winch 11 in accordance with the growth of the heap or cone of coal, and the skirt 13 is drawn up with it any slack on the ropes 15 being taken up by the operator pulling slightly on the rope 19; but when the operator notices a rush of coal in the stream he drops the skirt by slackening his hold on the rope 19 until it is in the position such that the flow of coal is normal or stopped; when the flow decreases below normal the skirt is raised by the operators tightening his hold on the rope 19. The operator thus has complete control of the flow of coal from the funnel so that the column is always maintained intact and breakage thus reduced to a minimum.

In addition to providing means for counteracting unforeseen rushes of coal due to circumstances, for example as above mentioned, the skirt 13 provides an effective means for regulating the flow of coal so that such flow may be adjusted in accordance with conditions, the nature of coal being discharged, and so forth.

The invention is useful for discharging materials other than breakable materials, for example Whinstone, ores and so forth; for as the apparatus controls the flow of the materials there is no violent shock of discharge, so that damage to a ships hold or other container is obviated. Further, the apparatus allows of the discharge of the material being concentrated at any desired point. Another advantage is that the dust usually caused in discharging operations is kept down to a minimum.

We claim:-

1. Apparatus for discharging coal and other materials of the kind described comprising in combination an open ended funnel, means for raising and lowering said funnel, a skirt mounted 1 on the lower end of said funnel to slide up and down so as to project at varying distances beyond the lower edge of said funnel, and means independent of said means for raising and lowering the funnel for raising and lowering the skirt.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the skirt comprises an open fence having a plurality of downwardly projecting prongs.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the skirt comprises an open fence having a plurality of downwardly projecting prongs, the said prongs being adapted to move up and down.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the skirt comprises an open fence having a plurality of downwardly projecting prongs and tubular members slidably mounted on the said prongs.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of spaced anchor prongs secured to 5 the lowermost edge of the funnel.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a telescopic funnel, the lower edges of the sections 

